Eyeglasses typically comprise a frame having a pair of apertures to support lenses and a pair of temples that extend rearwardly from the front portion of the spectacle frame for engagement with the users' ears. The temples are normally connected to the front portion of the spectacle frame by a hinge to allow the temples to be folded behind the lenses in the frame for storage when not in use.
In conventional eyeglasses, the hinge permits folding in one direction but inhibits movement of the temples beyond a position in which they are generally perpendicular to the plane of the lenses carried by the spectacle frame. In that position, the hinge is relatively vulnerable to abnormal loads that inevitably occur in normal use. Such loads may occur for example, from accidental contact with the eyeglasses, from improper storage when not in use or may be exerted by the side of a user's face where the overall width of the wearer's face is broader than the width of the spectacle frame. Inevitably, the hinge arrangement can be one of the more vulnerable components of the eyeglasses and accordingly, damage frequently occurs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,494,834 to Tabacchi discloses a resilient hinge in which a hinge block is mounted for sliding movement relative to the temple. A spring opposes such movement to hold the hinge block in the temple. If the temple is pulled outwardly, the outer edge of the temple abuts the outer edge of the frame and provides a fulcrum about which the temple rotates. The spring permits the movement and avoids bending of the temple.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,689,851 to Beyer shows a hinge arrangement that has a sliding support within the temple to permit lateral outward motion.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,073,904, U.S. Publication No. 2005/0163560 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,168,341 to Chene et al. show a number of variants in the placement of the type of hinge shown in the above two U.S. patents.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a hinge arrangement for a pair of eyeglasses in which the above disadvantages are obviated or mitigated.